The Last Year
by skyequill
Summary: This is the tale of Lily and James' last year at Hogwarts. With Voldemort rising, danger is everywhere. It's a difficult year for Lily, but she finds comfort in someone completely unexpected. JPLE. Please Read and Review.


The Last Year

Chapter One

_Strange Things are Happening_

"Oi," whispered a slender, red-headed girl as she sat at her family's dining table. Held in her outstretched hand was a golden badge in the shape of a shield. Engraved upon the metal were the letters HG.

"What is it, dear?" asked an older woman sitting across the table; she looked much like her daughter in the fact that she had a kind of classic beauty about her, had dark red hair, and had brilliantly gorgeous almond-shaped green eyes. Lily Evans looked into the face of her mother, a grin beginning to spread across her face. Her father had set down the morning paper and her only sister, Petunia, was squinting at her, as if trying to decide if she wanted to know what Lily held in her hand.

"I'm Head Girl," Lily stated, awe in her voice. The response of her family was just as expected. Her mother fussed around, grinning from ear to ear and proclaiming how proud she was. Her father clapped her on the shoulder, promising to get her something special for all of her hard work. Petunia was scowling, trying to ignore what was going on while she nibbled bitterly at her toast.

Lily smiled, placing the badge back into the envelope it had come in for safe keeping. She would put it on when she boarded the Hogwarts Express, less than a week from now. _Nothing is going to ruin this year_, Lily promised herself, feeling happier then she had in ages. _Nothing._

Linebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreakline

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Beginning place of many adventures and many wonderful years. Lily gazed fondly around the Platform, the fact that this was her last first day of school ever hitting her like a ton of bricks. Feeling more than a little foolish, Lily brushed a tear from her eye.

"Lily!" cried an excited voice over the noise of the crowd. Lily, one hand on her trunk, spun around, trying to pinpoint the voice. Moments later she spotted her best friend, Saffy Jordans, running towards her. Well, as fast as she could run while pushing a loaded trolley in front of her and dodging crowds of people.

"Saffy!" Lily exclaimed as Saffy let go of her trolley for a moment and both girls threw their arms around each other in a tight hug. It was only then that Lily noticed a small and timid girl hiding behind the trolley, looking more nervous than a mouse in a room full of lions. Saffy followed Lily's gaze and grinned proudly.

"Lily," she said, walking over to the girl and putting her arm around her shoulders," this is my little sister, Stephanie."

"Hello," Stephanie mumbled, trying to hide behind her sister without looking like a coward. Lily smiled slightly; she remembered what it was like to be a first year. It would have probably been the most terrifying day of her life, her first day at Hogwarts, if she hadn't been so fascinated by everything that caught her eye.

"Hi," she said, trying to give Stephanie an extra nice smile. Stephanie smiled timidly back before running onto the train.

"She's excited, she really is," Saffy sighed. "Wouldn't shut up the whole way here."

"Hey, I'll meet you at our usual compartment a bit later, alright?" Lily asked. "I want to go find out who Head Boy is."

Saffy grinned, nodded, and made her way to a door onto the train. The day Lily had gotten her badge, she had immediately written to Saffy, who was a prefect for Gryffindor this year. Saffy had written nearly three feet about how excited she was to be prefect; Lily knew this was mostly because Remus Lupin was the other Gryffindor prefect. Saffy had had a crush on Remus since her first year at Hogwarts.

An extremely loud train whistle jolted Lily out of her thoughts. Lily shook her head and made her way onto the train, struggling to drag her trunk up the three steps that led onto the train.

"Need help?"

A pair of hands came out of nowhere. Strong arms lifted her trunk up the steps and set it in the corridor of the train. Lily blushed automatically, a color to match her hair. The only thing she could really see of her helper was a head full of dark hair. Wait a minute-she recognized that hair! That messy, untidy, annoyingly handsome jet-black hair that always looked as though the owner had just gotten off of a broom.

"Potter!" Lily gasped in amazement. The boy turned around and Lily felt her eyes widen and her mouth open just a tad. Yes, it _was_ James Potter standing in front of her, but...he was different somehow. It wasn't just the fact that he was taller, slightly older, and more muscular (_Did I just think that, Lily thought with horror_). Behind his round, wire-rimmed glasses-that was where the change had occurred.

Potter had once had a certain gleam in his eyes; a gleam that clearly stated that he was better than everyone else. It had bothered Lily so much in the past, the arrogant way he carried himself and the way he seemed to look down his nose at others. Now, that gleam was gone. In its place was a shimmer. To most, the difference in a gleam and a shimmer would be insignificant, but in Lily's eyes, it was a shimmer of knowledge that for some reason, James had realized his faults and changed.

"Lily," replied James, grinning. It wasn't his usual grin, but a true smile that lit up his whole face. "I missed you over the summer."

Lily was speechless. She was dreaming, she was hallucinating, anything except this _couldn't_ be real! James Potter was actually being nice and polite and conversational! Every other question wasn't," Will you go out with me?"? For some reason, Lily felt her cheeks turn an even brighter red.

"Erm, t-thank you," she stuttered, still feeling as though she had stepped into an alternate universe. James grinned again.

"Can I take your trunk to your compartment for you?" James asked, still smiling slightly. Lily nodded, words not able to come out of her mouth.

"Your usual compartment?" James asked.

"Erm, no. Head's compartment. I-I got Head Girl," Lily said, amazed at the fact that James hadn't so much as pranked her, asked her out, or, well, asked her out. For a moment, James eyes lit light huge bonfires.

"Really!" he exclaimed. His cheeks suddenly become brighter than Lily's in a blush that made him look even more charming. Lily wanted to hit herself for thinking that, but it would have looked extremely odd for her just to smack herself from out of the blue. James seemed to re-compose himself before saying anything else. "Er, congratulations, Lily."

There was an awkward silence the whole way up to the head of the train. James opened the door for Lily, motioned that she go inside first (another act of courtesy that Lily hadn't believed possible), and put her trunk away for her.

"Thank you, Potter," Lily said, still completely confused.

"James."

"Huh?" Lily asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. James smiled at her and raised his eyebrows.

"James. It's my name. You can call me James."

"Oh," Lily breathed. Lily flushed red again. "Alright then, James."

James grinned, bowed slightly, and left. James. The word felt sort of odd in Lily's mouth, as she hadn't really used it much. Then something extremely weird happened.

In the pit of Lily's stomach, a warm sensation began to creep through the rest of her body. Goose bumps appeared on her arms and she felt warm and yet cold at the same time. Although she tried _so_ hard to suppress it, a smile spread across her face.

linebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreakline

James backed out of the Head's compartment, funny feelings erupting endlessly inside of him. Fireworks, even more wonderful than Filibuster's Wet-Start Fireworks, were erupting inside of his stomach. His face felt warm but he was getting shivers. _What_ was_ happening_?

"Prongs!" called a voice down the corridor. James spun around, suppressing the funny warm feelings inside of him. He grinned, ran a hand through his hair, and tried to get back to normal. Running down the corridor, dodging people left and right, was a group of three boys. James laughed as the trio suddenly halted in front of him and the shortest one was bumped from behind and fell flat on his face.

"Prongsey, how have you been?" Sirius asked, though there was really no use. Sirius Black, the closest of James' friends and like a brother to James, had stayed at James' house for the summer.

"Just fine," James replied, turning towards Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, his two other best friends. The group of four made up the "Marauders", their name for themselves. James and Sirius were, of course, the most alike. They could have been twins, for they both had prankster personalities, dark hair, and were quite handsome. Remus was the most quiet and responsible of the group. He had brown hair that sometimes hung in his brown eyes. Almost everyone in their year had suspected he would get Head Boy. Peter was the last of the group. He was short, had a slightly round face, and wasn't nearly as handsome or smart as the rest of the group.

"So, who's Head Girl?" Sirius asked excitedly. Peter's eyes widened in anticipation and they were both grinning like fools. James winced.

"Lily," he replied. He knew if he told, Sirius would laugh till the world ended, but since he would be finding out soon anyways, there was really no point in keeping it a secret.

"Lily's in there?" Sirius asked, mouth hanging open, gesturing to the Head's compartment. James nodded, feeling suddenly miserable. When Lily found out _he_ was Head Boy...well, he didn't want to think about it. Remus noticed his friends expression and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, it wont be that bad," he tried to assure James. James raised an eyebrow. "Alright listen, I'll walk in with you and we'll tell her together."

"She'll want to murder me," James whimpered. James knew very well what Lily thought of him: she thought he was arrogant, pathetic, and a prat. He could only see her reaction when he told her. He didn't want to disappoint her, but he knew she wouldn't like working with him for the year. James sighed, he really liked Lily and if he had one wish in the world, it would be that she liked him back.

linebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreakline

"Morning, Lily," said a calm voice by the door. Moments before, Lily had been staring hard out the window, trying to determine what the feelings she had felt earlier meant. Now, at the sound of Remus Lupin's voice, she leapt out of her seat, startled.

"Good morning," she replied, smiling at Remus. _He can't be Head Boy, he's Gryffindor's 7th year prefect_, she thought, trying to guess at who she would be working with all year.Remus walked comfortably into the room, revealing James Potter standing in the doorway, looking nervous. He shot Lily a soft smile. Warm feelings started tumbling from inside Lily again, making her even more confused than before.

"Congratulations on making Head Girl," Remus said. Lily smiled.

"Thanks. Any idea who's Head Boy?" she asked. It might have been her imagination, but she thought she saw Remus glance at James and raise his eyebrow. She _definitely _saw James go from normal, to pale, to bright scarlet.

"I'm, erm, Head Boy," he said in a choked voice. Lily blinked a few times, as if to make sure she had heard correctly. Then she pinched herself. It hurt. James Potter was Head Boy? Unless this was some kind of prank. But then, James looked too serious to be pulling a prank. In fact, he looked as though he might pass out.

"Erm," Lily cleared her throat," C-congratulations, Po-, er, James." Lily quickly sat down. She heard Remus mumble something to James, tell her good-bye, and then exit the compartment, leaving the two alone.

This was too much to handle. James hadn't been his usual self since she had seen him that morning! He was actually being kind, polite, and hadn't asked her out once, and now? James Potter was Head Boy! Lily rubbed her temples. Things were happening too fast around here. And _what_ were these stupid warm feelings erupting inside of her!


End file.
